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A kaleidoscope is a tube-shaped toy containing mirrors and colored glass pieces that create symmetrical, colorful patterns when you look through it and rotate it. It remains popular as an engaging visual toy that demonstrates how mirrors can create beautiful, repeating designs from simple materials.
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11 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Variations
- General variations
- Different versions suggested by Brewster
- Later variations
- Publications
- In popular culture
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|A toy kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed from the other end, due to repeated reflection. These reflectors are often enclosed in a tube, usually containing on one end a cell with loose, colored pieces of glass or other transparent (and/or opaque) materials to be reflected into the viewed pattern. Rotation of the cell causes motion of the materials, resulting in an ever-changing view being presented. thumb|upright=1.2|Internal structure of a typical kaleidoscope